Trazodone, starting dosage

I would be conservative and start on the half-dose to see if you can do reasonably well on that much. You can always up the dosage if you know it will help, but it's hard to know if you could get by on the half-dose unless you actually do it. So, my thinking is to start there. Incidentally, my pharmacist asked me quietly over the counter when he filled my doctor's prescription for zopiclone if my doctor knows I have obstructive sleep apnea. I replied that he does, but the pharmacist said they don't recommend zopiclone for apneic patients. He went on to suggest I take a half-dose the first night to see if it worked (it did). When I later reported this interaction to my GP, he was fine with it, and even felt better about renewing the prescription because he knew I was handling it carefully.

I've been taking 150mg a night for years and I sleep through the night....about 7 hours. I think that's what I started
on also.

I have taken Trazadone for years. I can say that I started with 100 mg, but I have also taken 50 mg by splitting the 100 mg in half. It can't hurt to try 50 mg. See if it helps. I take it about an hour before I want to go to sleep. It does help me and has for a long time.

@mmwagner46
You started on 50 mg? Or 150mg?

I think I started on 150mg. no problems

I tried Trazadone, but had almost night marish effects, work up unstable, hard to walk. Ambien was pretty much the same, bad dreams, waking up yelling........any alternative to try? Desparate

I suggest starting at 50mg. You might as well start low, you can always increase. I took it for years and it helped a little bit for falling asleep, but wore off after 4 hrs when I'd wake up and wasn't able to fall back asleep. Eventually, it seemed to carry over into the day and made me feel sleepy all day so I quit taking it.

I found CBN gummies worked better for me. There is a brand from Minny Grown called Hibernate that you can try ordering from their website. Look for one with CBN and a tiny bit of THC.

I also started taking 2 mg of melatonin before bed. Also 300mg Magnesium Glycinate which relaxes muscles and can help you sleep.

You can also check into low-dose Naltrexone. I started taking 4.5mg/day for my fibromyalgia but found it helped immensely with my sleep. You have to get it from a compounding pharmacy and it's not covered by insurance. Here is one article about it: https://neurolaunch.com/naltrexone-and-sleep/

Good luck.

@daisy17 Daisy, I have read some patients' anecdotes that they have resorted to taking the zopiclone/whatever, even a melatonin gummy, AFTER they awaken. Most of us can at least fall asleep, but we awaken inside of two-four hours and that's it for us. These people say they have adopted the practice of sitting up, swiping the pill left on the bedstand, swig some water, and then fall back onto their pillows. It might be another 30 minutes but next they know it's 0700 and time to go.

A sleep difficulty here. I have been taking Zolpidem ER for over a decade. It's effectiveness has reduced my good sleep time to 4 to 5 hours and then I'm awake. My GP suggested taking 1/2 of 150mg Trazadone in combination with my typical Zolpidem. I did this for about a week and it didn't enhance my sleep, but did give me nightmares. With my GP's authorization, I discontinued the Trazadone. Has anyone done this? If so, I'd appreciate anyone let me know how it's working. I've never used the 150 mg alone, without the Zolpidem. Any thoughts?